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DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS 



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CONSTITUTION 



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PHILADELPHIA 

PUBLISHED BY THE PENNSi'LVANIA ANTI- 



1861. 



DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS 



AND 



CONSTITUTION 




J^IE-J 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BY THE PENNSMANIA ANTI-SL 



AVERy mmi 



1861. 



DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS 



AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 

ADOPTED AT THE FORMATION OF SAID SOCIETY, IN PHILADELPHIA, ON 
THE 4TH DAY OF DECEMBER, 1833. 



The Convention, assembled in the city of 
Philadelphia, to organize a National Anti-Sla- 
very Society, promptly seize the opportunity 
to promulgate the following Declaration of 
Sentiments, as cherished by them, in relation 
to the enslavement of one sixth portion of the 
American people. 

More than fifty-seven years have elapsed 
since a band of patriots convened in this place 
to devise measures for the deliverance of this 
country from a foreign yoke. The corner-stone 
upon which they founded the Temple of Free- 
dom was broadly this — " that all men are crea- 
ted equal; that they are endowed by their 
Creator ^ith certain inalienable rights ; that 



[ ^ ] 

among these are life, Liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness." At the sound of their trumpet- 
call, three millions of people rose up as from 
the sleep of death, and rushed to the strife of 
blood ; deeming it more glorious to die instant- 
ly as freemen, than desirable to live one 
hour as slaves. They were few in number- 
poor in resources; but the honest convictiorx 
that Truth, Justice, and Eight were on their 
side, made them invincible. 

We have met together for the achievement 
of an enterprise without which that of our 
fathers is incomplete, and which, for its magni- 
tude, solemnity, and probable results upon the 
destiny of the world, as f\ir transcends theirs 
as moral truth does physical force. 

lu purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, 
in decision of purpose, in intrepidity of action, 
in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit, 
we would not be inferior to thcni. 

77/< /;• principles led the in to w:i,i:-e war against 
th.Mr oppressors, and to spill human blood like 
uatrr. in oni.T lobe nee. 0/,/-.>- forbid the do- 
in- of ."vil tl.at -ood max r..ni.'. an-l l.-a-l us to 



[ 5 ] 

reject, and to entreat the ojopressed to reject, 
the use of all carnal weapons for deliverance 
from bondage ; relying solely upon those which 
are spiritual and mighty through God to the 
pulling down of strongholds. 

Their measures were physical resistance — 
the marshalling in arms — the hostile array — 
the mortal encounter. Ours shall be such only 
as the opposition of moral purity to moral cor- 
ruption — the destruction of error by the poten- 
cy of truth — the overthrow of prej udice by the 
power of love — and the abolition of slavery by 
the spirit of repentance. 

Their grievances, great as they were, were 
trifling in comparison with the wrongs and suf- 
ferings of those for whom we plead. Our 
fathers were never slaves — never bought and 
sold like cattle — never shut out from the light 
of knowledge and religion — never subjected to 
the lash of brutal taskmasters. 

But those for whose emancipation we are 

striving — constituting, at the present time, at 

least one sixth part of our countrymen — are 

1* 



[ c^ ] 

recognized by the law, and treated by their 
fellow- beings, as marketable commodities, as 
goods and chattels, as brute beasts ; are plun- 
dered da.ily of the fruits of their toil, without 
redress — really enjoying no constitutional nor 
legal protection from licentious and murderous 
outrages upon their persons ; are ruthlessly 
torn asunder — the tender babe from the arms 
of its frantic mother— the heart-broken wife 
from her weeping husband — at the caprice or 
pleasure of irresponsible tyrants. For the 
crime of having a dark complexion, they suf- 
fer the pangs of hunger, the inliiction of stripes, 
and the ignominy of brutal servitude. They 
are kept in heathenish darkness by laws ex- 
pressly enacted to make their instruction a 
criminal offence. 

These are the prominent circumstances in 
the condition of more than two millions of our 
people, the proof of which may be found in 
tlidiisMnds of indisputable facts, and in the laws 
of tlie slaveholiiing States. 

iliiice we maintain, that in view of the civil 



[ ' ] 

and religious privileges of this nation, the guilt 
of its oppression is unequalled by any other on 
the face of the earth ; and, therefore, 

That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo 
the heavy burdens, to break every yoke, and 
to let the oppressed go free. 

We further maintain, that no man has a 
right to enslave or imbrute his brother — to 
hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as 
a piece of merchandize— to keep back his hire 
by fraud — or to brutalize his mind by denying 
him the means of intellectual, social, and moral 
improvement. 

The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To 
invade it is to usurp the prerogative of Jeho- 
vah. Every man has a right to his own body 
— to the products of his own labor — to the pro- 
tection of law, and to the common advantages 
of society. It is piracy to buy or steal a native 
African, and subject him to servitude. Surely 
the sin is as great to enslave an American as 
an African. 

Therefore, we believe and affirm. That there 



[ 8 ] 

is no difference, m prmclple, between the Afri- 
can slave-trade and American slavery. 

That every American citizen who retains a 
human being in involuntary bondage as his 
property, is, according to Scripture (Ex.xxi. 16) 

a MAN- STEALER. 

That the slaves ought instantly to be set 
free, and brought under the protection of law. 
That if they lived from the time of Pha- 
raoh down to the present period, and had been 
entailed through successive generations, their 
right to be free could never have been aliena- 
ted, but their claims would have constantly 
risen in solemnity. 

That all those laws which are now in force 
admitting the right of slavery, are therefore 
before God utterly null and void; being an au- 
dacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, 
a daring infringement on the law of nature, a 
base overthrow of the very foundations of the 
social compact, a complete extinction of all the 
relations, endearments, and obligations of man- 
kind, ami a presumptuous transgression of all 



[ 9 ] 

the holy cominandtnents ; and that, therefore, 
they ought instantly to be abrogated. 

We further believe and affirm — That all per- 
sons of color who possess the qualifications 
which are demanded of others, ought to be ad- 
mitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same 
privileges, and the exercise of the same pre- 
rogatives, as others ; and that the paths of 
preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, 
should be opened as widely to them as to per- 
sons of a white complexion. 

We maintain that no compensation should 
be given to the jDlanters emancipating the 
slaves — 

Because it would be a surrender of the great 
fundamental principle that man cannot hold 
property in man ; 

Because slavery is a crime, and therefore 

IS NOT AN ARTICLE TO BE SOLD ; 

Because the holders of slaves are not the 
just proprietors of what they claim; freeing 
the slaves is not depriving them of property, 
but restoring it to its rightful owners; it is not 



[ 10 ] 
wronging the master, but righting the sUwe- 
restoring him to himself; 

Because immediate and general emancipation 
would only destroy nominal, not real property ; 
it would not amputate a limb or break a bone 
of the slaves: but, by infusing motives into 
their breasts, would make them doubly valua- 
ble to tlie masters as free laborers ; and 

Because, if compensation is to be given at 
all, it should be given to the outraged and 
guiltless slavey, and not to those who have 
plundered and abused them. 

We regard as delusive, cruel, and dangerous, 
any scheme of expatriation which pretends to 
aid. either directly or indirectly, in the eman- 
cipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for 
the immediate and total abolition of slavery. 
We fully and unanimously recognize the 
sovereignty of each State to legislate exclusive- 
ly on the sul)iect of the slavery which is toler- 
ated within its limits; we concede that Con- 
jrrcss, nmlcr the pn-^mt national compact, has no 
rijrhl to intorlcrr with any of the Slave States 
hi relation t-. tliis momentous subject. 



[ 11 ] 

But we maintain that Congres^s has a right, 
and is solemnly bomid, to suppress the domes- 
tic slave-trade between the several States, and 
to abolish slavery in those portions of our ter- 
ritory which the Constitution has placed under 
its exclusive jurisdiction. 

We also maintain that there are, at the pres- 
ent time, the highest obligations resting upon 
the people of the free States to remove slavery 
by moral and political action, as prescribed in 
the Constitution of the United States. They 
are now living under a pledge of their tremen- 
dous physical force, to fasten the galling fetters 
of tyranny upon the limbs of millions in the 
Southern States ; they are liable to be called 
at any moment to suppress a general insurrec- 
tion of the .slaves ; they authorize the slave- 
owner to vote on three-fifths of his slaves as 
property, and thus enable him to perpetuate 
his oppression ; they support a standing army 
at the South for its protection ; and they seize 
the slave who has escaped into their territories, 
and send him back to be tortured by an en- 
raged master or a brutal driver. This relation 



[ 12 ] 
to slavery is criminal and full of danger : it 
MUST EE BROKEN UF. 

These are our views and principles— these 
our designs and measures. With entire confi- 
dence in the overruling justice of God, we 
plant ourselves upon the Declaration of our 
Independence and the truths of Divine Keve- 
lation, as upon the Everla.«ting Eock. 

We shall organize Anti-Slavery Soc.et.es, .1 
possible, in every city, town, and village ... our 

land. , , 

We shall send forth agents to hit ..p the 
voice of remonstrance, of warning, of entreaty, 

and rebvike. 

We shall circulate, unsparingly and exten- 
sively, anti-slave.7 tracts and periodicals. 

We shall e..r,st the pulpit ami the press .n 
the cause of the suffering and the dumb. 

We shall aim at a purif.eation of the churches 
fro... all participation i.. the guilt of slavery. 
We shall encourage the labor of freemen 
rather Ibau that of slaves, by giving a prefer- 
ence to their productio.is ; and 

We .shall spa.-e no exertions nor ...oans to 



L 1^ J 

bring the whole nation to speedy repentance. 

Our trust for victory is solely in God. We 
may be personally defeated, but our principles, 
never. Truth, Justice, Reason, Humanity, 
must and will gloriously triumph. Already a 
host is coming up to the help of the Lord 
against the mighty, and the prospect before us 
is full of encouragement. 

Submitting this Declaration to the candid 
examination of the people of this country, and 
of the friends of liberty throughout the world, 
we hereby affix our signatures to it ; pledging 
ourselves that, under the guidance and by the 
help of Almighty God, we will do all that in 
us lies, consistently with this Declaration of 
our principles, to overthrow the most execra- 
ble system of slavery that has ever been wit- 
nessed upon earth — to deliver our land from 
its deadliest curse — to wipe out the foulest stain 
which rests upon our national escutcheon — 
and to secure to the colored population of the 
United States all the rights and privileges 
which belono' to them as men and as Ameri- 



[ 14 ] 
cans— come what may to our persons, our in- 
terests, or our reputation— whether we live to 
witness the triumph of liberty, justice, and 
HUMANITY, or perish untimely as martyrs in 
this great, benevolent, and holy cause. 

Done at Philadelphia, the 6th day of De- 
cem])er, A. D. 1833. 



Maine. 

DAVID TIIUllSTON, 
NATHAN WINSLOW, 
.loSKPII SOUTIIWICK, 
JAMES IRKUEKIC OTIS, 
ISAAC WINSLOW. 

New Hampshire. 

DAVID CAMIKKI.I-. 

Vermont. 

ORSON S. MUKHAY. 

MaBS*cl»U8ett8. 

DANIEL S. POUTIIMAYD, 
KFFlNdHAM L. CAl'UiiN, 
JOSHUA COKFIN, 
AMOS A. IMIKLI'S, 
JOHN (1. WHITTIER, 
HORACE P. WAKKFIELD, 
JAMES (!. HAHHAliOES, 
DAVID T KlMliALL. .HI., 
DANIEL E. JKWETT, 
JOHN R. CAM HEM., 
NATHANIEL StU'THARD, 
ARNOLD niKKlM, 
WILLIAM L. (iARRI.-<ON. 

Rhode Island. 

JOHN I'R ENTICE, 
(lEOROE W. IIENSON, 
HAY I'OTTER, 

Connecticut. 

8AMUKL J. MAY, 
ALI'HI-.i;.^ KINCSI.KY, 
EDWIN A. STILLMAN, 
SIMEON S. .loTELVN, 
ROIiKRT II. MALL. 



Kew Yorlt. 

BERIAH GREEN, JR. 
LEWIS TAP PAN, 
JOHN RANKIN, 
WILLIAM GREEN, JR. 
A BR AM L. COX, 
WILLIAM GOODELL, 
ELIZOR WRIGHT, JR. 
CHARLES W. DENISON, 
JOHN FROST. 

New Jersey. 
JONATHAN PARKinjRST. 
CHALKLEY GILLINGHAM, 
JOHN M'CTJLLOUGH, 
JAMES WHITE. 

Pennsylvania. 
EVAN LEWIS. 
EDWIN A. ATLEE, 
KOBEKT PURVIS. 
JA9. M'CRUMMILL, 
THOMAS SHIPLEY, 
BARTH \V FUSSKLL, 
DAVID JONES. 
ENOCH MACK, 
J. M. MKIM, 
AARON VICKERS, 
JA.MES LOKillEAD, 
EllWlN P. ATLEE. 
THOMAS WHITSON, 
JOHN U. SLEEPER, 
.loHN SHARP, JR. 
JAMES MOTT, 

Ohio. 

JOHN M. STERLING, 
MILTON SUTLIKK. 
LEVI SlTI.IKK. 



OF THE 
FORMED IN PHILADELPHIA, DECEMBER 4TH, 1833. 



Whereas the Most High God " hath made of 
one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the 
face of the earth/' and hath commanded them 
to love their neighbors as themselves; and 
whereas, our National existence is based upon 
this principle, as recognized in the Declaration 
of Independence, " that all mankind are crea- 
ted equal, and that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable riglits, among 
which are life, libert}^, and the pursuit of hap- 
piness ;" and whereas, after the lapse of nearly 
sixty years, since the faith and honor of the 
American people were pledged to this avowal, 



[ 16 ] 

before Aliiiiulity God ami the World, nearly 
one-sixth part of the nation are held in bond- 
age by their fellow-citizens ; and whereas, 
Slavery is contrary to the principles of natural 
justice, of onr republican form of government, 
and of the Christian religion, and is destructive 
of the prosperity of the country, while it is en- 
dangering the peace, union, and liberties of the 
States ; and whereas, we believe it the duty 
and interest of the masters immediately to 
emancipate their slaves, and that no scheme of 
expatriation, either voluntary or by compul- 
sion, can remove this great and increasing evil ; 
and whereas, we believe that it is practicable, 
by appeals to the consciences, hearts, and inter- 
ests of the people, to awaken a pul)lic senti- 
ment throughout the nation that will be op- 
posed to the continuance of Slavery in anj^part 
of the lv('[)ubli('. ;ind by eifecting the speedy 
abolition of Slavery, prevent a general convul- 
sion; and whereas, we believe we owe it to 
the o|)pressed, lo our fellow-citi/ens who hold 
slaves, to our whoI«' (Mnuiti'v. to posterity, and 



[ 17 ] 

to God, to do all that is lawfully in our power 
to bring about the extinction of Slavery, we 
do hereby agree, with a prayerful reliance on 
the Divine aid, to form ourselves into a Society, 
to be governed by the following Constitution : — 

Article I. 
This Society shall be called the American 
Anti-Slavery Society. 

Article II. 
The object of this Society is the entire 
abolition of Slavery in the United States. It 
shall aim to convince all our fellow citizens, by 
arguments addressed to their understandings 
and consciences, that Slaveholding is a heinous 
crime in the sight of God, and that the duty, 
safety, and best interests of all concerned, re- 
quire its immediate abandonment, without ex- 
patriation. The Society will also endeavor, in 
a constitutional way, to influence Congress to 
put an end to the domestic Slave trade, and to 
abolish Slavery in all those portions of our 
common country which come under its control, 

9* 



[ 1^ ] 

especially in the District of Columbisi, — and 
likewise to prevent the extension of it to any 
State that may be hereafter admitted to the 
Union. 

Article III. 

This Society shall aim to elevate the char- 
acter and condition of the people of color, by 
encouraging their intellectual, moral, and reli- 
gious improvement, and b}^ removing public 
prejudice, that thus they may, according to 
their intellectual and moral worth, share an 
equality with the whites, of civil and religious 
privileges ; but this Society w^ill never, in any 
way, countenance the oppressed in vindica- 
ting their rights by resorting to physical Ibrce, 

Akticlt-; IV. 

Any person who consents to the principles of 
this Constitution, who contributes to .the funds 
of this Society, and is not a Slaveholder, may 
be a member of this Society, and shall be en- 
titled to vote at flu- UH'etimis. 



[ li' ] 

Article V. 

The officers of this Society shall be a Presi- 
dent, Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, 
Corresponding Secretaries, a Treasurer, and an 
Executive Committee of not less than five nor 
more than twelve members. 

Article VI. 

The Executive Committee shall have power 
to enact their own by-laws, fill any vacancy in 
their body and in the offices of Secretary and 
Treasurer, employ agents, determine what 
compensation shall be paid to agents, and to 
the Corresponding Svicretaries, direct the Treas- 
urer in the application of all moneys, and call 
special meetings of the Society'. They shall 
make arrangements for all meetings of the So- 
ciety, make an annual written report of their 
doings, the expenditures and funds of the So- 
ciety, and shall hold stated meetings, and adopt 
.the most energetic measures in their power to 
advance the objects of the Society. They 



[ 20 ] 

may, if they shall see fit, appoint a Board of 
Assistant Managers, composed of not less than 
three nor more than seven persons residing in 
New York City or its vicinity, whose duty it 
shall be to render such assistance to the Com- 
mittee in conducting the affiiirs of the Society 
as the exigencies of the cause may require. To 
this Board they may from time to time confide 
such of their own powers as they may deem 
necessary to the efficient conduct of the Soci- 
ety's business. The Board shall keep a record 
of its proceedings, and furnish a copy of the 
same for the information of the Committee, as 
often as may be required. 

Article VII. 

The President shall preside at all meetings 
of the Society, or, in his absence, one of the 
Vice-Presidents, or, in their absence, a Presi- 
dent pro iem. The Corresponding Secretaries 
shall conduct the correspondence of the Society. 
The Recording Secretary shall notify all meet- 
ings of the Society, and of the Executive Com- 



[ 21 ] 

mittee, and shall keep records of the same in 
separate books. The Treasurer shall collect 
the subscriptions, make payments at the direc- 
tion of the Executive Committee, and present 
a written and audited account to accompany 
the annual report. 

Article VIII. 

The Annual Meeting of the Society shall be 
held each year at such time and place as the 
Executive Committee may direct, when the 
accounts of the Treasurer shall be presented, 
the annual report read, appropriate addresses 
delivered, the officers chosen, and such other 
business transacted as shall be deemed expedi- 
ent. 

Article IX. 

Any Anti-Slavery Society or Association, 
founded on the same principles, may become 
auxiliary to this Society. The officers of each 
Auxiliary Society shall be ex officio members 
of the Parent Institution, and shall be entitled 



[ 22 ] 

to deliberate mid vote in the transactions of 
its concerns. 

Article X. 

This Constitution may be amended, at any 
annual meeting of the Society, by a vote of 
two-thirds of the members present, provided 
the amendments pro^Dosed have been previously 
submitted, in writing, to the Executive Com- 
mittee. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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